Recently I bought this portrait from Stalin. It is a portrait which is printed in the former Czechoslovakia. This leaves me to the conclusion that the portrait is about from the period 1948-1953. The caption on the portrait is; Ministerstvo informací 20020/45, Tištěno Neubertovým ofsetem, Josef Stalin Maršál Sovětského svazu a předseda rady lidových komisařú. Can somebody translate this text for me? What does the text Ministerstvo informací 20020/45 exactly mean?
My guess is that it was printed slightly earlier than what you state. My understanding of the printed sentence is:
Information Ministry [order] 20020 / [19]45
Printed by offset process (Neubertovym???)
Joseph Stalin, Marshal of the Soviet Union and Chairman of the Council of People's Commisars.
Somewhere I had the same thought as you Lapa but I just wanted to be sure. But what about the explanation of the line; Ministerstvo informací 20020/45 (Information Ministry [order] 20020 / [19]45)? The Information Ministry sounds like an official ministry of the former Czechoslovakian (communist) government. But as far as I know, the communists in Czechoslovakia came in power in February 1948. Should it not be imaginary to think than that the Stalin portrait is from 1948?
Different countries have different ministries at different times... Even though the communists came to power in Feb 1948, there may very well have been an Information Ministry before that. Also, remember that the Red Army "liberated" Prague, and we can infer that the Czech authorities were on rather good terms with Moscow between 1945 and 1948.
The sentence "Ministerstvo informací 20020/45, Tisteno Neubertovym ofsetem, Josef Stalin Marsal Sovetskeho svazu a predseda rady lidovych komisaru" means:
"Ministry of informations 20020/45 (probably number of a decree), printed by Neubert's offset, Josif Stalin - Marshall of the Soviet Union and a chairman of the people commisars's council"
Vaclav Neubert was a famous printer in Czechoslovakia.
Ministry of informations was found in april 1945 (before end of war) by former president Edvard Benes. The task of this ministry was a control of culture, medias and propaganda. Unfortunately it was misappropriated by a communists after 1948.
Interesting answer. For me as a graphic artist the portrait is very interesting because it is offset printed. Offset printing was a proper new process in the forties.
